Get to know Rostom Reda
(the Armenian):
Napoleon's personal bodyguard
El-Mwatin, Egypt
13 Dec 2023
[Translated from Arabic by Katia M. Peltekian exclusively for
Armenian News Armenian News Network]
Rostom Reda (the Armenian) was Napoleon's
bodyguard; he originally came from Artsakh but left for Egypt and became a
Mamluk. It is said that in 1812, when Napoleon captured Moscow and ordered it
to be burned, his bodyguard Rostom asked the Emperor to leave the Armenian
Quarter of Moscow unharmed and not to burn it.
Who was Rostom Reda?
Rostom Reda, whose real name is Rostom Hovnani
Khachaturian, was born in 1783. Rostom’s father was a merchant and the family lived in
Artsakh, but when Rostom was 11 years old, his father left for Tbilisi
[Georgia] for work and took his two oldest sons Avaji (?) and Seyran with him.
The mother, two girls, and Rostom stayed home. A year later, the family decided
to move to Tbilisi. On the way, the Tatars attacked them, killed one of the
girls and kidnapped Rostom selling him to traders. After being resold seven
times, Rostom eventually ended up in Egypt and became a Mamluk.
The Mamluks were young captives who were trained
from an early age for military action in Egypt. Rostom served Sheikh al-Bakr,
who later presented his Artsakh mamluk to Napoleon in 1799. The French Emperor
appointed Rostom as his first bodyguard. For 16 years, Rostom personally served
Napoleon, accompanied him during all his wars, and enjoyed the emperor's trust.
In 1814, when Napoleon was exiled to the island
of Elba, Rostom left France, moving first to Iran and then to Tbilisi, where he
was received by the Governor of the Caucasus Alexei Yermolov. Rostom then
participated as commander of the cavalry division between 1826 &1828.
After the liberation of Artsakh, he lived in
Shushi. In 1840, he returned to France and participated in Napoleon's funeral.
Rostom married Alexandra Deauville, daughter of Empress Josephine's chief
guard, and they had two children. During the reign of King Louis-Philippe, Rostom
obtained a position in the city of Dourdan, his wife's hometown.
It is to be noted that the character of Rostom is
mentioned in Stendhal's The Life of Napoleon and Tolstoy's War and
Peace. Balzac in his Illusions calls him "the famous
Mamluk."
The life and activities of Mamluk Rostom were
studied by the scholar Napoleon J. Fleishman. The image of Rostom has also been
repeatedly referenced in fine art. It is said that many artists wanted to paint
a portrait of Napoleon's bodyguard, but not all of them got this opportunity.
However, in the thematic and crowded paintings dedicated to Napoleon, Rostom is
recognizable and stands out in his oriental clothes.
In the last years of his life, Rostom wrote his
book The Memoirs of Roustam, Napoleon’ Imperial Bodyguard, which is
often used by Napoleon's biographers in their works. Rostom Reda of Artsakh, the
bodyguard of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, died in 1845 in Dourdan, France.
Read the original in Arabic
https://www.elmwatin.com/660652/%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85-%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A7-(%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A)-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%AE%D8%B5%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-
Armenian News note:
The above-mentioned book can be found on Amazon. To read more about Rostom’s memoires, please
click on the link below: https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/publications/the-memoirs-of-roustam-napoleons-mamluk-imperial-bodyguard/#:~:text=The%20Memoirs%20of%20Roustam%20Napoleon's%20Mamluk%20Imperial%20Bodyguard,-Author(s)%20%3A&text=Kidnapped%20in%20the%20Caucasus%20and,gates%20of%20Versailles%20and%20beyond.